Benjy the Gay Bull finds a new home

Benjy, the gay bull who was to be sent to the slaughterhouse because of his preference for bulls over heifers, has found a new home on an English farm.

The animal made headlines and inspired “Save Benjy” campaigns from animal rights activists and LGBT groups after his owner, a Mayo farmer who purchased the Charolais bull for breeding, decided to sell him to the slaughterhouse.

Benjy was rescued by “The Simpsons” co-creator Sam Simon, who paid $7,826 (€6,250) to save the bull. Simon, who is dying of colon cancer, has pledged to give away $100 million of his fortune to charitable causes before his death.

“As we near Christmas, we thank the people of Ireland who stepped in to save Benjy with their kind outpouring of donations and support, our ‘one way ticket to freedom’ will be the best Christmas gift that we can give an animal this year, a gift that will literally last a lifetime," stated John Carmody, of the animal rights organization ARAN, according to a press release.

According to TheJournal.ie, Benjy will be picked up on Sunday from Claremorris and loaded on a trailer that will cross the Irish Sea and the Pennines mountains to his new home in Norfolk at the Hillside Animal Sanctuary.